Technique
Scott McBride Smith, Editor
I met an old friend while writing my article for this issue of Keyboard Companion (see below). It was great to renew communication after so many years apart - to hear his ideas and be reminded of his wisdom and his warmth. My friend? Robert Schumann.
No, I'm not psychic. But I did feel close, again, to the composer as a person when I read his Musical Rules for Life and Home, published as part of the 1850 second edition of Album for the Young, Op. 68. Album for the Young was written during an especially happy time in a life and career filled with sadness and, ultimately, tragedy. "I can't think of any time [1848] when I was ever in such good spirits musically as when I wrote my Op. 68 pieces," he wrote to his friend, Carl Reinecke. "The music just came pouring into my head. These pieces have become particularly dear to me - and they have really come from my family life."
The attraction of the Rules, as of the pieces, is undeniable. They mix didactic wisdom (learn the basic rules of harmony from the very start), fatherly advice (often go out for a walk) and a wry whimsicality (you should not play bad compositions, nor should you even listen to them unless you are obliged to) in a mix that is totally charming. The feeling of gemütlichkeit, that hard-to-translate German word encompassing all the warmth of family life, was an inspiration as I tackled the thorny task of trying to explain the process of obtaining good tone in a few hundred words.
Though he never
uses the word explicitly, most of Schumann's Rules could
be listed under the heading "musicianship." He wanted
his daughters to focus, always, on the elemental music competencies
of listening and feeling. It's no coincidence that these skills
are essential to good tone. I've listed the edition of Album
for the Young that I consulted in my article below. Read it,
and the articles below, and you will have a good beginning to
the understanding of that most mysterious quality of piano playing
- tone.
from Polli Chambers-Salazar's article
Listening - the basis of good tone production
The first step I take in teaching good tone to an early-level student involves teaching the student how to listen. So many students focus on what they are doing at the piano - on the physical act of playing - but neglect to pay attention to the sound they are producing. This is understandable with a beginning student, since much of his/her effort tends to be directed toward simply reading the notes, and getting the muscles to respond to what is on the page. To work on listening in a lesson, I will play two examples of a passage for my student, one with a good tone, and the other with some obvious flaw in the execution such as breaks in legato, or too much pressure on each note. Then I will ask the student to describe what was heard, and to tell me which example he/she liked better. In addition, I will frequently ask a student to critique his/her own performance before I offer an opinion. If the student does not bring up the subject of tone, I will ask specific questions, such as, "Did you notice that your right hand was pushing very hard throughout that melody?"
Relating the physical approach at the keyboard to the desired aural image
The next step I take while working on tone production involves getting the student to focus on what he/she is doing physically at the piano, and then on teaching what needs to be changed in order to produce a better sound. This step immediately follows step one, since the student needs to learn how to instantly alter the muscular response to change the sound being made. To work on this, I will again play a passage with a harsh tone, telling the student to observe me closely and listen to the sound I am creating. I will narrate the performance with a verbal description of what I am doing physically ("Notice how tense my hand is, and how I am striking the keys from above.") I will subsequently repeat the passage, this time with a good sound ("See how relaxed my arm is, and how I am hugging the keys as I play the melody?; also notice that my wrist is making much of the movement that allows me to move from note to note, rather than using only my fingers.") Then, the student will imitate what I just did to create a better tone, along with my giving constant feedback ("Can you relax your hand a little more? Now try playing a bit more on the pad of your finger.") I also often intervene physically - putting pressure on the student's shoulders and or/wrists to facilitate a more relaxed state; or pressing lightly on the fingers to keep them from lifting off the keys too quickly, etc.
The advantages of working on tone production and technique apart from reading
Many beginning students are not accustomed to tuning in to
how their body feels at any given moment, and so much of good
tone production involves training the body to respond in a particular
way to what one hears coming out of the instrument, and subsequently
learning to duplicate that response at will. Again, with a beginner,
this may seem like a demand that goes over and above what he/she
is capable of doing, since so much so energy is expended simply
playing notes, rhythms, dynamics and articulation accurately.
Because of this, I like to give my students the opportunity to
work on tone without the added distraction of note-reading, rhythm,
etc. For this purpose I often assign the first Hanon exercise,
with the instruction that this study is to be used to focus on
sound, and on how the body feels at the piano. I tell the
student to first think about relaxing the torso, then to mentally
work his/her way down through the arms into the fingers, then
to assess what is heard and seen and to make physical adjustments
accordingly. The student's focus is on learning to relax, and
on memorizing the feeling of playing in a relaxed way with a good
tone. . .
Dr. Polli Chambers-Salazar teaches at the University
of Southern California and the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.
She has performed across the United States and
Canada. Recent appearances include a lecture-recital involving
art and music at the Norton Simon Museum, entitled "From
Scriabin to Schoenberg: Music in the Time of the Blue Four."
Ms. Chambers-Salazar specializes in presenting classical recitals
that inform and involve the audience, and originated the Classics
Become Eclectic series in 1997.
from Scott McBride Smith's article
Developing habits of good listening
I think I can claim that I have always had good tone. As a teenager, I often received favorable comments from judges and examiners in this area. "Thank-you for thinking about your tone," one of them told me. I nodded sagely. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. Looking back, with the wisdom of 40 years of pianism, I know now how I did it. It's simple. I'm big. I'm strong. And I have fat fingers.
This is not as facetious as it sounds. Because of the natural strength and width of my fingers, I never had to use excessive force or pressure to produce a sound. Because I am not naturally agile, it was impossible for me to use too much finger speed. I did what I could and the result, luckily for me, was fine tone. Sheer good luck, though, rarely carries one through a whole career. I have had to think deeply about tone-production in order to be a successful teacher, one who can help students of all shapes, sizes and strengths play beautifully. Here are some of my teaching secrets.
"The most important thing is to cultivate the sense
of hearing. Take pains early to distinguish tones and keys by
ear. The bell, the windowpane, the cuckoo-listen to the sounds
they make." The words are Robert Schumann's. They
are first on the list of his Musical Rules for Life and the
Home, published in 1850 as part of the second edition of his
Album for the Young, Op. 68 (available complete in a modern
edition published by Schott, ED 9010). Schumann is right: inviting
students to really listen, as opposed to simply hearing, is the
first step to true musicianship. In my studio, Friday nights are
reserved for group activities, workshops, masterclasses and theory
sessions. Listening is always a part of the process. Sometimes
I set a timer and ask students to remain totally silent, while
making a list of all the sounds they hear during a 4-minute stretch
of time. They are always shocked by how many sounds the silence
contains; house hums, clatter from the street, bodily noises-the
list is long. Another activity is even simpler. . .
For the other Samplers from this issue
